Bedtime
by prouvairing
Summary: As their children finally sleep, Aang and Katara have a rather curious talk. "You seriously can't recognize your own hair?" - Kataang babyfic


**A/N: **You guys kind of convinced me to go digging in my Avatar folder, you know? So, this is what I pulled out of it. It's older than the last one -which was very recent- and I'm not very sure about it. Well, you will tell me, I suppose. Plus, I like the idea, and it features something I love... _Cloudbabies! _Lots of them. You just know they're awesome.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Would I be on a fanfiction site if I did? Anyways, I kind of claim three of the Cloudbabies. Tenzin, sadly, is still theirs.

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They were asleep. All of them.

It was nothing short of a miracle and Katara silently congratulated herself, as she kept rocking the child she held in her arms.

Jing's light breath brushed against her neck, his small arms hang loosely around her shoulders. She could tell by the depth of his breathing that he was fast asleep. She didn't dare to put him down yet, though.

She couldn't risk waking him up again, could she?

Bedtime was becoming more and more challenging as the number of their children grew.

Thank the Spirits, Nene was fairly easy and went to bed without complaining, after her ritual round of goodnight kisses.

In spite of that, Katara knew her little daughter had always had trouble falling asleep and would easily be haunted by nightmares and childish fears. And thanks to her light Airbender step, Katara wouldn't even notice when the little girl snuck up on them and crawled in the big bed to find comfort.

Katara knew they would have to put a stop to such a habit, but she still didn't have the heart to do so. And besides that, she had other trouble to face at the moment.

Like Tenzin. He apparently thought that sleeping was a waste of time ad would do all that was in his power to set the bedtime as late as possible. This included long and exhausting storytelling sessions. Katara would have never thought, as she traveled the world on Appa's saddle, that she would be glad for all the trouble she and Aang had to face in order to defeat Ozai. As it was, it had provided plenty of adventures and funny stories for them to tell their children.

The bad side was that Tenzin _never_ seemed to get tired to hear them.

She could hear Aang's voice seeping through the wall that separated Tenzin's room from the twins'. It hummed low and a little rough from tiredness, though she couldn't make out the exact words he was saying.

She rested her head on Jing's dark brown hair. They were short and soft against her cheek, everything she remembered Aang's hair to be. She could still recall her fingers itching from the urge to run her hands through it. She never had a chance to do so, and though she was sure the twins' hair was like their father's… Well, it just wasn't the same, was it?

Katara had toyed with the idea in her mind for quite some time, but every time she tried to verbalize it, it just sounded silly. She couldn't just ask Aang to grow his hair back. He had a serious reason for shaving it: it would hide his arrow, his whole identity.

"Done."

She heard his whisper come from behind her and she slowly turned around, careful not to startle the sleeping boy in her arms.

Aang was leaning against the doorframe with dark half-moons underlining his eyes, in striking contrast with his pale skin. She smiled at him, as he walked towards her, suppressing a yawn.

"It was surprisingly fast, tonight. He only wanted the _whole_ story of how we defeated the Fire Nation back at the North Pole and how Uncle Sokka's girlfriend became the Moon. And, of course, if this made Aunt Suki jealous and…" the rest of his words faded away in an undefined mumble. His voice was hoarse by the long storytelling session.

Katara chuckled lightly, slowly reaching out to kiss his cheek. "Poor baby," she whispered against his skin and a small smile pulled the corner of his lips.

He sighed as he gently placed a hand on Jing's head, playing lightly with his hair. "You know… I'm not sure if you're talking about me or Ten."

Katara smiled mysteriously and watched Aang's fingers softly twist the dark locks.

"He's got your hair," she murmured, following her own line of thought, and earning a startled glance from the Airbender. Much to his surprise, his wife blushed in meeting his gaze, and then moved away from him to put the baby in his crib.

"Uh… I guess so," he said, as he watched her bend down, dark hair hiding her face.

Her head shot up. "What do you mean, you _guess?" _she said, and then jumped at how high her voice was, glancing anxiously at the sleeping boys. She raised one finger, silently telling him to hold the thought and quickly tucked Jing in.

As soon as she had finished, Katara took Aang's hand and pulled him out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"You seriously can't recognize your own hair?" she said, once they were out, leaning against the wooden door with a playful grin.

He groaned and rolled his eyes. Was she serious? He was exhausted and decidedly not in the mood to dwell on his nonexistent hair.

"Listen, I had it only once in my life. For a couple months. Thirteen years ago. I didn't exactly memorize it, seen as we had more important… things going on," he emphasized on _things_, since ending a One-Hundred-Years War was far more crucial than a single monk's hair.

Katara just stared at him with an unreadable look in her eyes. He had a point, didn't he? Then why did she remember his thirteen-year-old self so well -his head covered in unruly brown hair, his bangs falling over his eyes?

"I really liked it, though," she whispered sheepishly, leaving him puzzled by how wistful her voice was. She reached out and ran a finger along the arrow-tattoo across his head, from the tip of the arrow to the back of his neck, making him shiver… And making him question just how tired he was. Maybe he could…

His train of thought was interrupted as she went on: "I like you either way, of course, but sometimes I'm sorry I only got the chance to see you with hair because we were in mortal danger and all…"

Katara smiled and planted a butterfly kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, she chuckled at his weary expression. "C'mon, let's get you to bed, uh?" she murmured, taking his hand once again. Aang followed her like a puppy, the weird conversation they just had playing over and over in his mind. She yawned on their way to their bedroom.

Weird enough, he forgot to shave the following morning.

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**A/N con'td:** So, this is it! *curtains close*  
You know... I might post something more about these babies I made up... I barely mentioned Jing's twin in this one.  
Go (and maybe review? ;D) in peace!  
-TBO


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